neighbours
by Fish-Inton
Summary: Dr Lecter is finally free, thanks to one very mysterious Fish... what is her secret? and WHY is Rad a chicken? (literally!) COMPLETED!
1. basement changes

DISCLAIMER: you know the deal, i don't own 'em... never have a hope of doing so either.  
  
A/N: this has no specific timeline, all i know is the doctor is still in Baltimore... hope you like it...  
  
and Guber, i think you'll find this one a little odd, but entertaining all the same.  
  
As always, reviews would be nice...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was a normal morning in the dark basement of the Baltimore State Hospital... a normal morning, much like all others. Inmates screaming, bars crashig closed when the orderlies came through for the morning patrols.   
  
They didn't go down to the last cell though.  
  
The last cell was off limits.  
  
Nobody occupied the last cell, not for now anyway.  
  
There was a new addition coming, and to accomodate 'it' they needed another cell, identical to the last cell. Plexi-glass and nylon netting. The only difference being that this cell hed an extra room  
  
Multiple Miggs was already screaming, and as the lights came on another inmate contributed to the niose... soon, the entire violent ward was scraming, until their vocal chords wore out and all they could make was a throaty choked noise... like a strangled duck.  
  
The inmate that had been removed for the construction of the new cell was Dr Hannibal 'the cannibal' Lecter. He had been moved to a padded cell in the upper hospital until construction was complete.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The doctor sat on the floor in his new cell, it had been a month and three days now, he missed his old cell. He was aware that there would be a new addition to the basement living across from him when he moved back downstaris.   
  
The looks he had been greeted with when he arrived were less than impolite. The nature of the inmates upstairs was far more relaxed than downstairs, and the doctor grew restless.  
  
He had been wheeled along a long corridor and then left in the recreational lounge for an hour, just staring at the wall. He was then transported to his cell, a vast box of white, as if inside a cloud, or a childs mind... it was entertaining for the first few minutes, then the cell lost its novelty and the good doctor was once again, bored.  
  
Nevertheless, the the meals upstairs WERE better than those he had recieved in the darkened basement. The orderlies were nothing like Barney, they were impolite. When the doctor spoke to one of them, his request went ignored... he despised those orderlies, if he could, he'd teach them a lesson, but he'd have to behave if he wanted to go back to the basement.  
  
Doctor Lecter allowed his thoughts to travel to the new inmate, he thought of what they might look like, their personality... it seemed they were unknown to the public... the FBI knew a little... he didn't actually KNOW what condition the newcomer had...   
  
~ all good things to those who wait ~   
  
he silently mused, allowing a smile to briefly cross his face. It was time to start the day. The doctor stood, stretched and went to the corner as the orderlies brought in the restraints... time for breakfast. 


	2. the 'It'

How'd you like it so far?  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dr Frederick "no phD" Chilton, and I don't really want to...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Come on, you gotta get up, now! The doctor'll be down to get you any minute!" The orderly called through the cell glass to the lump on the prison standard bed. He was an okay guy, didn't hit IT, didn't really mind if IT spoke to him, he was cool with IT... not afraid of IT at all... odd for some  
  
"Mmmph!" The lump moved and rolled over, falling out of bed as it did so.  
  
"Yeah, anyway, hurry up, okay?" The orderly left.  
  
"Mmmph!" The thing moved again. Then it crouched, a comfortable posture, on its haunches... like a cheetah on the prowl. Approximately five minutes later, IT stood and stretched... remembering the plan for the day, running through all the conversations with Dr Frederick "but you can call me 'Fred'" Chilton.  
  
"Creep... stupid, stupid, stupid creep..." IT muttered as it battled with the prison standard blankets, throwing them aside when IT was free.  
  
IT, was a she... that she the very 'IT' being transferred to the Baltimore State Hospital later in the day... she didn't see the need for being in the violent ward, but she wasn't complaining... it was nicer than Cherrytown Institution for the Ill of Mind... or the Looney Academy as some called it.  
  
She didn't know her real name, she was just known as 'Fish', the reason why she didn't know.  
  
No parents,  
  
No family,  
  
No knowledge of the outside world,  
  
Kept in captivity all her life, or as long as she could remember.  
  
She would be going soon.  
  
~ finally, get away from these idiots... except Carl ~  
  
she mused. Carl was the nice orderly, the one who reminded her of a bear she had seen in a book. Fish allowed her thoughts wander as to what the institution would actually be like, she wondered what the other inmates would be like... she was also aware that she'd get an extra room, a bathroom, beacause her new cell was across from another, the other inmate was also getting an extra room. Apparently she would know who the inmate across from her was, but she doubted it, she didn't know many people outside the institution's walls.   
  
She was glad to get out though.  
  
She stood in the corner as the orderly came in with the restraints, it was breakfast then the plane... to her new cell... her new home... 


	3. new cell

Okay, first off *glances at clipboard*  
  
thanks to all who reviewed... here's the boring bit... *reads directly off of clipboard*  
  
DISCLAIMER: i have never and will never own Dr Hannibal Lecter M.D. or any characters associated with Mr Harris' books... nor do i own the Stereophonics. i do however hold all responsibility for the action/s of the NEW inmate!  
  
ENJOY!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Doctor Lecter was wheeled down past the other inmates, bound once again to the metal handcart in a strait-jacket and mouthpiece...   
  
~ how original... ~ he thought to himself ~ i wonder exactly WHAT it is Chilton has planned? Hmmmm... this could prove interesting ~   
  
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply...   
  
The doctor was greeted with the smell of cheap, over-used and overly atrocious aftershave, worn only by his nemesis... Chilton.  
  
"Well, Hannibal, we've got a bit of a surprise for you." The doctor could've choked on the smell of tobacco eminating from Doctor Chilton  
  
~ not that i deserve it ~ Doctor Lecter thought, hiding his hate for Chilton behind his emotionless mask. He remained silent, challenging Chilton with the silence he was presented with. Dr Chilton continued.  
  
"You have an extra room... a bathroom actually. Still the same sink and toilet, no luxuries. It's a requirement both you AND the newbie will probably prefer." Chilton nodded to Barney and the doctor was turned in his restraints to see the new 'layout' of his old cell.   
  
It was true where the old toilet and sink had been was a doorway, no doors and no sharp edges either... that was all he could see... a very private place, he'd be able to urinate without thinking of what Chilton was getting out of the cameras placed around the corridor. That thought was enough to make him somewhat pleased that there would be a new inmate... WHO exactly he was, the doctor didn't know... and Chilton was excited about something...   
  
A weak inmate? One easy to manipulate? One who could be broken easily, one who Chilton could torture successfully perhaps? The answer was simple... he would wait and find out.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
For Fish, the plane flight had gone relatively well... just the odd minute or two of turbulence, then smooth and calm travel... she had seen outside and looked out of the window... being in a strait-jacket doesn't leave much for you to do except sit still and look out of the window. Her hands were chained to the seat by handcuffs, she thought of a song she'd heard when she was in the van on the way to the airport... Carl had said it was by the Stereophonics... what was it? oh yes, 'Everyday I Think Of Money' the last verse... Fish ran it through her head:  
  
"Sat in a truck, it carries convicts  
my hands are bound to the seat by   
handcuffs, tomorrow, i'll maybe  
run around the yard, or paint  
in my cell, and hate imprisonment, Everyday,  
I think of money. Everyday, I  
miss my family..."  
  
She sighed and sat back, she was going to miss Carl... she hoped there'd be another orderly like him at Baltimore. Oh well, at least she had Dante and Marcus Aurelius to get through.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
yes, ladies and gentlemen, that was the end of that chapter. and yes, i am listening to the Stereophonics, reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated... thanks again to those who have already reviewed...   
  
REGARDS:  
  
Shifter 


	4. moving in

~ This isn't EXACTLY what i had in mind... ~   
  
Fish thought to herself as the orderly, who was called Barney, wheeled her along the corridor of the mad. She'd been thinking what it would be like, but THIS? This didn't look to her anything like what Chilton had said.   
  
~ Creep, Creep, CREEPY OLD BASTARD!!! ~ for once, she was thankful for the language Carl had taught her.   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Two hours later, Fish sat in her cell, at the table thingy near the food carrier and the glass.   
  
Chilton was talking, but she wasn't listening... something about no visitors... the emphasis on the word 'no' was very strong... and a load of other crap. He turned to leave and began to walk, Fish came back to the real world for long enough to hear what he said next...  
  
"No good, crazy little lab baby." As soon as Chilton had finished muttering under his breath, Fish snapped... she snapped bigtime...  
  
Before Chilton could move, she'd thrown herself up against the glass, spitting and growling low in her throat... like a member of the cat family. Chilton made an attempt to look cool, but when he saw the murderous look in her eyes, he ran... straight past the other inmates, and outside, out of the building, into the fresh air.  
  
~ Man, that kid's weird... ~ Chilton thought as he gasped for breath outside. He still had his main attraction to introduce... the monster...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was dark in the basement when Lecter was moved back into his cell, Chilton's orders... or so Barney had said. The doctor looked briefly into the other cell, but saw and heard nothing. He returned to his bed and sat there for five miutes, until Barney was gone.  
  
Listening more closely, he hears very quiet breathing, but not forced silence... naturally quiet... ~ odd ~ he thought as he listened. Ten minutes of listening later, the doctor lie on his bed and closed his eyes... he wouldn't sleep yet... when he opened his eyes next, the red pinwheels in his eyes reflected light. Deciding to wait until the morning, doctor Lecter turned over and went to sleep.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
If we possessed a pair of night-vision goggles, we might have seen Fish, sitting in the corner, breathing heavily... still mad at Chilton. Although she is mad and breathing heavily, she is incredibly silent... her angered and fast breathin is as silent as that of a calm man.  
  
She just sits there... if we entered her mind, a vast clockwork mechanism, driven by instincts... we would see the cogs turning speedily, in a desperate attempt to remember her past, although she knows she will be unsuccessful.   
  
There is movement outside of her cell, most probably her new neighbour...   
  
~ who is he? ~ she thought to herself... still deep in thought. She heard soft breathing, and the odd mini-snore. She couldn't help but laugh at what her friend, Rad, had told her at the old asylum... "Snore back!" she muffled the laughter and did not snore back... she'd save that for another time.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
And that's the end of that chapter! I want to thank MorbidAngel for being inspiration about snores and Radical aisha (pen name: Aisha Clan-Clan/The egg) for being Rad!   
  
Hope you like it all so far, more to come soon! I WROTE THREE CHAPTERS TODAY!  
  
Regards:  
  
Shifter 


	5. introducing Rad!

DISCLAIMER: i don't reeeeally think i need one for this cahpter... except Rad is the product of the imaginations of Marie and me! WOOHOO! POTATO BALLS!  
  
enjoy!  
  
PS: Guber... you wanted to know if this was going to be sad... here's a chapter to cheer you up when you're feeling down... or have run out of coke!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
[Cherrytown Institution for the Ill of Mind]  
  
Rad is sharpening her claws along the sides of the padded cell in the asylum. She has been put on her own while Fish, her best friend, was transferred.  
  
She too is being moved to a new cell, but she will still be a resident in the Cherrytown institution. Unlike Fish, Rad is a problem child... created with a mental block.  
  
Rad thinks she is a cat and therefore, acts like one.   
  
Without Fish, Rad's been going even MORE around the bend than normal, which she isn't anyway...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The orderly pushed the hand-cart along the hallway, strait-jacket in one hand, the other controlling the cart thingy. He had to get Rad out of her temporary cell, this was not usually an easy task.  
  
Opening the door, he saw nothing. Just before he called to Carl, there was a scratching noise, a lot of feathers, a meow and... a THUD!  
  
"I know there's a lotta feathers, but where'd all the pretty birdies go?" Rad sat on the floor, pulling feathers from her teeth. "Hmmm..." she shrugged, "I don't know! Let's eat lunch first!"  
  
"Uhh... you just ate..."  
  
"Really?" She said, raising an eyebrow, "did I like it?!" Rad sat and thought for a second, before speaking again... ""Can we get a new ceiling in here? This one's full of feathers!"  
  
Suddenly, Rad jumped up and started dancing around the cell, throwing feathers around. The orderly made a random grab for Rad, but missed... Rad panicked and ran into the plexi-glass wall with another THUD!  
  
"Ow! I'm okay!" Rad claimed as she fell to the floor, completely K.Oed!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
And that's the cheerful bit! YOU LIKE IT? 


	6. the light

Chapter 6 for all you lovely people! TRIFLE, FRUITCAKE, SAUSAGES AND PIIIIIIIE!  
  
read on!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The lights flashed on in the basement dungeon, blindingly bright.   
  
Fish turned over and opened her eyes, only to shut them tightly against the lights overhead. She groaned and rolled off the small bunk, dropping to the floor with an 'oof' and a 'thud.'  
  
Standing up, squinting, Fish made her way into the bathroom... she looked in the mirror and saw...  
  
FISH! staring straight back at her was a VERY grumpy looking Fish with an eyesore of a hairdo! She literally had a crater in her head from where she had been laying, and her short hair was all messed up.  
  
While the sink filled with water, Fish used the toilet and then turned off the taps.   
  
She paused. Then...  
  
she dunked her head into the sink.   
  
Coming up for air thirty seconds later, she sorted out her hair and went back to the main cell again. This time she just sat on her bunk, fully aware of the pair of eyes watching her... nevertheless, she just stared at the wall ahead of her.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Lecter had fought with the urge to groan when he awoke to the sight of blinding overhead lights...  
  
~ when i get my hands on Chilton... ~ his thoughts, hoever, were interrupted by a loud groan from the inmate across the hall, the new one. Several other inmates had begun to scream already, but they could be blocked out... the doctor couldn't see them. Then there was further interruption with an 'oof' and a 'thud.'   
  
Then Lecter heard the toilet flush, then the sound of running water. He waited and listened some more...  
  
There was a splash, Lecter sat bolt upright... ~ not suicide already, surely? ~ he thought, it was possible after all.  
  
He saw a young girl walk out of the bathroom, back into the light, she squinted and went back to sit on her bunk... a GIRL? in the Baltimore VIOLENT WARD?!   
  
She stared at the wall then, unblinking.  
  
~Hmmm... intriguing... ~ Lecter mused silently as the girl sighed heavily.  
  
~Another head to get into! ~ he smiled,   
  
~ LET THE GAMES BEGIN! ~ and so his next task was set...  
*~*~*~*  
  
and that's as far as i've got here, i might get another one up soon though! thanks to all who are reviewing! 


	7. breakfast and chit chat

This chapter has more dialogue, i hope it's not too confusing for you to follow...  
  
DISCLAIMER: i don't own Dante, Batman, Superman, or the Alien comic-book or any of Mr Harris' characters, I'm just a nobody... accepting I'm never going to be a somebody...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Good morning, Doctor Lecter." The orderly, Barney, greeted the inmate opposite young Fish.  
  
"Good morning, Barney," the 'doctor' replied, "and how are we this morning?" he asked courteously.  
  
"We are fine, you?" Barney obviously wasn't afraid... Fish couldn't SMELL any fear... more respect for the madman on the other side of the glass.  
  
"As fine as one can be, given certain... drawbacks..." the doctor trailed off in his sentence.  
  
~ Hmmm... an intelligent answer... for a basket case anyways... ~ Fish mused silently, still staring at the wall. Slightly-furred, pointy ears pricked, listening carefully to the conversation going on 'outside'. She'd been taunted about 'elf-ears' at the old asylum... but there was so much they'd never know about 'Fish'... which wasn't really the most appropriate name for her... given certain... occurences in the beginning'. The conversation outside continued, but Fish just stared at the wall... losing interest.   
  
Five minutes later, Fish snapped out of her reverie. The screaming of the early morning had died down... her internal body clock told her it was approximately four o'clock in the morning... her usual wake-up time.  
  
"I'll be back with your breakfast, okay, doctor Lecter?" Barney asked the doctor.  
  
"I shall be in the corner, awaiting further instruction." Fish heard Barney leave and the doctor move into the corner, waiting silently... Fish couldn't help it... she spoke to him.  
  
"So, YOU'RE doctor Lecter? As in the doctor Lecter everyone talks about, seven and a half years on from incarceration and being labelled a 'madman'?" She had to start somewhere, why not there?  
  
"Indeed, I am... and you would be?" his metallic voice possessed a certain hypnoic quality to it... which made Fish want to sleep, sleeeep... sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep... *snore*... Fish held back a laughing fit and replied to his question.  
  
"Name's Fish... from Cherrytown." She knew 'Fish' was NOT a normal name for a person... but hey! She was in a looney bin, after all.  
  
"Interesting name..."  
  
"I've been told that same thing..." she thought for a second, "exactly seven-hundred and fifty-six times in my life... including your contribution to the list... thank you, now I'm another step closer to one million." She said, hearing him chuckle as he stood in the corner, not turning around.  
  
"I'm honoured." He simply replied before going silent again. Fish sensed that this was a sign that the conversation was over... this looked, or rather sounded like a person who was to be respected... he didn't SOUND crazy... and to be honest, he didn't LOOK crazy, well, not from the back anyway, something in his posture perhaps.   
  
Fish accidentally let out a sigh of aggitation. She was so used to the screams of the insane people at Cherrytown and Rad's ever present scratching and meowing sounds... the silence could be classed as deafening. Barney came back, carrying the doctor's breakfast expertly on a tray.  
  
"Here's your breakfast, doctor... you okay in the corner?"  
  
"Yes, I am fine, Barney... and don't worry, I'm not going to try any... 'funny business'... not in the presence of one so young anyway, I'd hate to be considered a bad influence." The doctor said from his corner. Fish just sat and watched the procedure Barney used to give doctor Lecter his breakfast through the food carrier.  
  
"See you later, doctor." Barney said to the doctor, who remained in the corner.  
  
"Indeed you will, Barney, I somehow doubt I'm going to be going anywhere." Doctor Lecter answered, as if he was in deep thought, far away in his vast mind. Barney then turned to look at Fish.  
  
"Say, uh... Miss Fish, would you like some breakfast yet?" He asked her, so unused to seeing a girl in the Violent Ward... it was wierder than the first time he saw doctor Lecter. He wasn't expecting an answer.  
  
"Uh... no thank you, Barney, but thanks for offering anyway." Shock HORROR! She answered him! WOW! not many do that their first morning. He continued politely.  
  
"Well, when you wanna eat, just call me... okay?" Barney raised an eyebrow. Fish could smell the shock in the air, she also heard the doctor inhale deeply too.  
  
"Yeah, sure... uh... Barney?" he turned back around, "You can call me Fish... Miss Fish?" she made a face "Not my best address."  
  
Barney nodded and left quietly, creeping past the other sleeping inmates.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Doctor Lecter sat at his table, studying his breakfast...   
  
~ Well, she has no problems communicating... I wonder what her mental condition is? ~ he shrugged and began to eat... he would find out soon enough.  
  
"So,"   
  
~here we go again ~ he thought as 'Fish' bean to speak again.  
  
"Yes?" he wanted to hear what she had to say.  
  
"What's your condition?" She asked him, turning so they made eye contact.   
  
~ Hmmm... eyes... an odd colour, more unseen than my maroon... green? no. Brown? not quite... more... golden or yellow... like the reflectors on a bicycle wheel... how odd... ~   
  
He thought, before answering her previous question, with his cover story, of course.  
  
"I have... PTSD... do you know what that stands for?" He raised an eyebrow... meeting her eyes with his own.  
  
~ Weird! He has purple... red? no... more... Maroon eyes... even weirder than my eye colour! ~   
  
Fish thought before answering his previous question, with her knowledge from the BIG BOOK OF MENTALITIES she owned... it was on her shelf, along with Marcus Aurelius and Dante's Inferno, Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova.  
  
"Yeah... umm... oh," she clicked her fingers... searching for the answer in her memory vault, "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or something like that." She smiled, showing her pointed canines... her pointy ears and her eyes and teeth made her look like some sort of cat.  
  
"Yes, that is correct, how do you know that... if you don't mind my asking." He added.  
  
"Oh, in a book I've got." She replied casually.  
  
"Really," he raised his eyebrows, "and what, may I ask, do you read?" he expacted Superman or Batman comics, but wasn't he in for a surprise.  
  
"I'm halfway through Dante's Divine Comedy, I've got Marcus Aurelius and 'The Big Book Of Mentalities', and I've got an Alien comic book somewhere, I've read... Homer the Illiad too... and that's it so far." She said, with another smile when she caught the look of surprise in his eyes, which he covered up almost immediately.  
  
~ Hmmm... I think there's more to you than meets the eye, so to speak... MISS Fish... ~ he smiled to himself.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
and now you have a mental image of Fish... but what makes her so perceptive? So... odd, so to speak?   
  
as always, awaiting your reviews...  
  
Regards:  
your little pal:  
  
SHIFTER 


	8. the dream

Thanks to the reviewers of ch1-7, here's ch8 for you...  
  
DISCLAIMER: i don't own HL... blah... blah... blah... blah... yadda... yadda... yadda... *sigh*  
  
reviews would be nice...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Fish sat again, staring at the wall... going through memery after memory... after confusing herself over whether the chicken came before the egg, she decided to take a little nap.  
  
During that nap, she had images pass through her head... images flashing, straight in front of her... and she saw a giant white space... and then she had an 'out of body experience'.  
  
Fish walked into that space, a person rushed past her, a man. This man was wearing a white coat and consulting a clipboard... typing data into a computer. What she saw next wasreally weird.  
  
Two giant tubes stratched from the ceiling to the floor, filled with a red liquid... on closer inspection, there was a shadowy form in each tube. Fish walked fowards and collided with another person in a white coat... but instead of hitting them, they passed straight through her, leaving her gasping for breath. Fish staggered over to the nearest test tube and peered in, sh came face to face with herself... but she was younger, and not quite properly formed... she was in the tube... next to her...   
  
~ what the hell is this? ~ she thought to herself as she looked into the next tube... Rad? Yes... Rad was in the other tube, in the same red liquid... just floating there... still not properly formed... she had no claws... and Fish, she had rounded ears and no fur...   
  
~ where am i? ~ Fish thought, panicking slightly.  
  
If she was in the tube, and Rad was in the other tube... what was going on?  
  
She found a piece of paper, her eyes instantly drawn to two pieces of data... the first:  
  
###  
  
CODENAME: FISH  
  
ID#: 017  
  
STATUS: incompleted  
  
DNA: cheetah/human  
  
###  
  
...and the second she read:  
  
###  
  
CODENAME: RAD  
  
ID#: 018  
  
STATUS: incompleted  
  
DNA: domestic cat/human  
  
###  
  
~ what the? ~  
  
Then Fish realised...  
  
~ Why can't I remember my past? Where was I born? Who were my parents? ~ the answers to her questions came crashing down on her... the world she was in began to spin... what was this? Then, she woke up, shaking and in a cold sweat... on the floor, again.  
  
"Fish?" the doctor across from her questioned, obviously awakened by her sudden movement, "what's going on?" he asked moving, standing, coming nearer the glass on the other side of the corridor.  
  
"I... don't know... it doesn't matter anyway... sorry if i woke you." Fish climbed back into bed, trying to make sense of things... that would explain the ears, and the teeth, and the sharp senses of hearing and smell, and the fur, and the growling... and the OTHER thing, the thing that happened before...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
small cliffie here, just writing while i've got the idea... hope this answered the whole "Furry ears?" question Kurt... happy?  
  
still typing more,  
  
your pal:  
  
SHIFTER 


	9. escape!

Chapter 9 for all ye who appear hook-ed  
  
Don't need the "d-word" thingy...  
  
A/N: another happy chappy!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was about ten o'clock in the evning when Rad awoke from her nap, falling out of bed trying tio claw the ceiling. The padded cell had disappeared and the featers had been replaced by walls of bars.  
  
"Eh?!" She gave a sort of meow and a gasp. "Where'd all the featers go?" she gave a meow of frustration and circled the cell... after all, she was a cat. The orderly appeared outside the cell, Rad fell over in surprise.  
  
"Rad... you want breakfast?"  
  
"Feathers!?"   
  
"No, not feathers, kitty-chow."  
  
"Oh... feather flavoured!?" she looked hopefully at the orderly with her green and amber eyes.  
  
"No, pidgeon flavour." he held up a luminous pink food bowl, full of kitty-chow. She nodded. The orderly came in, set the bowl down on the floor and left, closing and locking the barred door behind him.  
  
Rad laughed maniacally at nothing at all and sharpened her claws on the bars. Then... she ate at lightning speed.  
  
"And now! I will be... a chicken!" Rad began to hop and cluck around the cell, using her food bowl as a hat. "Look at my SEXY hat!" She yelled, then continued to cluck wildly, like the mental little cat she is...   
  
*sigh*  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was eleven o'clock, all the orderlies were switching over, she had about five minutes.  
  
From her teeth, Rad pulled...  
  
a mini-skeleton key!  
  
Looking around with decidedly *shifty eyes*, Rad opened the door to her cell. Armed with her food bowl, she made her escape.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Opening the doors was no problem, nor was getting outside, all it took was a whit coat and a clipboard  
  
~ too easy! teeheehee! ~ Rad thought, snickering to herself.  
  
From her large furry ears, she pulled...  
  
A PIECE OF PAPER!   
  
and...  
  
A CRAYON!  
  
Rad scribbled down a note to Fish and put it back into the storage spaces of her ears which came in VERY handy at times like these. She would put her plan into action very, very soon... 


	10. newspapers and fan mail

Chapter 10 for all you phellow 'philes and peeps out there!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
// 4 days later \\  
  
Doctor Lecter was sitting at his table, concentrating on his drawing... crayons and butcher paper weren't the best of art materials, but he could make do. Then there was that smell... disgusting, an insult to his senses... it was...  
  
"Hannibal," came Chilton's voice...   
  
~ overdoing it a bit on the aftershave, aren't we, Frederick? ~ thought the doctor, not looking up at Chilton.  
  
"There's somebody coming to interview you tomorrow, and by God you'd better behave yourself... you do remember what happened last time you messed around, don't you?" Chilton smiled cruelly at the memory of the thrill he had torturing the good doctor.  
  
~ that was truly a Kodak moment, I think you'd agree, DOCTOR 'I'm so high and mighty' Lecter... ~  
  
The doctor ignored Chilton's decidedly RUDE tone and looked up to lock maroon with blue. He replid with his usual cold, unfeeling, calm and controlled metellic rasp, "I'd be happy to co-operate, and yes, I do remember what happened 'last time'. Now, if you are quite finished, I have work to do..." The doctor switched his attentions to his incredibly accurate drawing of the Duomo.  
  
"Actually, I had some newspapers for you, but... seeing as you aren't interested I think our newbie here can have them." Chilton turned swiftly and sent the papers through Fish's food carrier, she looked up from Dante's Inferno and peered in the drawer. Fish raised an eyebrow at the main article on the front page, then she went back to her book.  
  
"Until later, Lecter." Chilton called with a backwards wave of his hand as he walked away. He looked cool, but both Fish and the doctor could hear him muttering under his breath all the way at the other end of the basement dungeon... thanks to their highly-developed senses. Fish looked back at the news paper.  
  
"Over the last week, Buffalo Bill has killed and skinned two more victims, again women... blah, blah, blah... each was left in a different river... FBI behaviooural sciences in on the hunt... Senator's daughter, Catherine Martin is supposedly the last victim taken, she has been missing for 48 hours." Fish read aloud. "You want these?" She asked doctor Lecter.  
  
"Only if you're finished with them." He replied.  
  
"I'll scan through them, but yeah, I'll send them through later." She got out the pile of newspapers and began to read.  
  
*1 hour of perusing later*  
  
"BARNEY?" Fish called down the corridor to the orderly.  
  
"Yeah, Fish?" Barney called back, "What's up?"   
  
"Could you pass these papers to the doctor for me, please?" She was used to speaking down the hallway now.  
  
"Uh... just let me finish my coffee, okay?" He called from the room behind the gate.  
  
"Okies." She shrugged and sat back down.  
  
"Okies is such terrible slang, my dear." the doctor commented.  
  
"One, I am not your dear, I am Fish as I know you know... and two I got it from my best friend whom I miss a lot, okay?" She replied in a cold and clipped tone.  
  
"I apologise for any offense caused my my observation, Fish." the doctor became silent.  
  
"It doesn't matter." she got back to Dante, ignoring Barney, as he took the newspapers and sent them through to Lecter.  
  
"Thankyou, Barney." The docotr nodded and Barney left. The rest of the day was spent in silence. Except for when the mail arrived.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Your 'fan mail' doctor." Barney said as he sent the pile of letters and magazines through the carrier, staples and paper-clips removed.  
  
"Thankyou, Barney." the doctor rose and sorted through his 'fan mail'  
  
"And a letter for you, addressed to... FISHIE PANTS?!" Barney grinned, containing his laughter. Fish on the other hand looked up straight away.  
  
"RAD!" she cried out happily. "Woohoo!" she grabbed the note from the carrier, "Thanks, Barney!"  
  
"Hey! I'm just the mailman." He said and walked back past the crazy mental thing that is Miggs.  
  
###  
  
TO FISHBONE,  
  
I AM FREEEEEEEEE!  
  
AND POTATO BALLS TO YOU!  
  
I CAN SEE FEATHERS!  
  
MEET ME AT SAFEHOUSE... GET OUT!  
  
LUCK TO YOU, LIEUTENANT FISH, THE POTATO BALLIANS AWAIT YOUR COMMAND...  
  
RAD  
  
-- leader of the potato ballians  
  
PS: use the key!  
  
###  
  
taped to the side of the note was the skeleton key Rad had mad a looooong time ago, Fish put it in her mouth and put the letter on the desk... she would wait till a suitable time before she actually made her own escape.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
and that is as far as i'll get today, it's my birthday tomorrow [22/3/03] so i'll be out for a bit! Woohoo! 14ness! parents nightmare!  
  
as usual, tell me what you're thinking...  
  
"And now you're thinking: how does she know what i'm thinking? And now you're thinking... I hope that's sheperd's pie in my knickers!"  
  
PANTS AND PIE TO YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!  
  
see you later! 


	11. the interview

if i tell you what the OTHER thing is now... it'll spoil the rest!  
  
Thankies to all who have reviewed... this is my first chapter as a 14 year old! YAY!  
  
In this chapter i DO need a DISCLAIMER: Mr Harris' mind i do not own, nor do i own his creations... i would like to... but i don't... i'd need to be a multi-millionaire for that...   
  
as always: enjoy  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Fish was half asleep when the interiewer came to see the doctor, she decided to keep quiet. Now, Fish being Fish, with her amazing sense of hearing and smell could smell handcream and perfume coming towards her and the doctor before the doctor even did.   
  
~ fascinating ~ was the word that described what she could smell.  
  
Fish knew it was rude, but she listened in on the conversation which followed her thoughts.  
  
"Doctor Lecter." came the voice of a woman... Fish heard the good doctor look up from his Italian edition of Vogue. "My name is Clarice Starling. May I talk with you?"  
  
~ Hmm... polite, he's probably noticed that already... but what does she want? Simplicity... what is the first and principle thing she does? What needs does she serve? I guess I'll have to find out, won't I... ~  
  
He rose from his bunk and stood in front of her, calm and controlled as always.  
  
"Good morning." He said in his metallic rasp.  
  
Fish phased out for a couple of minutes and caught some of the conversation when she caught scent of another in the corridor... Barney.  
  
"Would you like a chair? We could have had one, but he never - well, usually nobody needs to stay that long." Barney spoke to the woman.  
  
"Yes, thankyou." she had a strong accent, Fish couldn't work it out.  
  
While Fish tried to decipher the accent, conversation continued. She would have to just save all her questions for later, she listened again.  
  
"Did you do the drawings on your walls, doctor?" she asked, courteously.  
  
"Do you think I called in a decorator?" ~ his words are true, true, true ~ Fish ran through her mind.  
  
"The one over the sink is a European city?"  
  
"That is the Duomo, seen from the Belvedere. You know Florence?" he asked, sounding like he would die without some sort of interesting conversation.  
  
"All that detail from memory?"  
  
"Memory, agent Starling, is what I have instead of a view."   
  
~ no, starling, see what happens is we go on little mental hospital trips to Europe and we eat ice-cream! duh! what do you think?! ~ Fish had to hold back her laughter.  
  
"The other is a crucifixion? The middle cross is empty." She observed.  
  
"It's Golgotha after the Deposition. Crayon and magic marker on butcher paper. It's what the thief who had been promised Paradise really got, when they took the paschal lamb away."  
  
"And what was that?" She asked, curiosity evident in her voice.  
  
"His legs broken, of course." And then there was other stuff about broken legs... Fish could have fallen asleep,   
  
~ this conversation is soooooo boring! talk about... ALIEN! ~ Fish stopped herself from laughing and made a small movement, like a fidget in the night.   
  
"You can't reduce me to a set of influences." Fish missed out a lot of conversation because she was concentrating on not laughing her head off.   
  
"Can you stand to say I am evil? Am I evil, officer Starling?"   
  
~ Not evil, just... intelligent... ~ Fish mused, smiling to herself.  
  
"I think you've been destructive. For me it's the same thing."  
  
"Evil's just destructive? Then storms are evil, if it's that simple. And we have fire, and then there's hail. Underwriters lump it all under 'Acts of God'." Fish very nearly laughed aloud in a maniacal fashion at that.  
  
~ this is hilarious! I wish i'd been in a storm... and considering how out of date the guinness book of records is, what is hail like?! ~ Fish concentrated on not laughing again and stopped listening and thought about her escape...  
  
~ so i can get out of the cell, when is the orderly station clear? when can i get out? hmmmm... i'll ask the doctor if he knows later, when i 'wake-up'... so to speak ~  
  
Suddenly, Fish felt a rush of energy... the last words she heard before fitting were:  
  
"YOU GO BACK TO SCHOOL, LITTLE STARLING... FLY, FLY, FLY..." the words, each syllable resonated in her skull, paifully, she lost consciousness.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
When doctor Lecter saw Fish fall off the bed, Clarice Starling was halfway up the corridor.  
  
"AGENT SATRLING..." she continued to walk.  
  
"AGENT STARLING!" a new note of urgency in his voice.  
  
"WHAT?!" she whirled round and stormed back to his cell.   
  
"Look at the girl!" he motioned to the fitting Fish on the floor of the opposite cell.  
  
"I'll go get help." she said as she hurried off to get Barney...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
~ Ow! my head! what happened... am i free?! FEATHERS! feathers? what the? ~  
  
Fish opened her eyes to see Clarice Starling, Barney and doctor Chilton standing over her.  
  
"Are you aright?" Starling began.  
  
"Yeah... I'll live anyways..."  
  
"Good." Chilton said in a clipped tone, obviously non-plussed that Starling had been here when this happened.  
  
"We should go now. If Fish is okay." Barney suggested, the cell door was open and Lecter's cell was blocked out of view by the three pairs of legs shfting about.  
  
"I'm fine." Fish insisted, "You can go." She stood and went to her shelf, took the big book of mentalities down and began to read... not absorbing any information at all, just letting the words slip through her head. She soon went to sleep.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Lecter watched Fish's sleeping form, fascinated. Who was Fish? What was her background? Where was she from? Who knew all these answers?  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
and this isn't as good as the previous, but i'm tired, and this is just stuff at the moment, to pass the time... la la la... and to Catherine... you know what this means:  
  
SAUSAGES, PAPER CUPS, MASHED POTATO BALLS AND PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE! BRING THAT GOD DAMNED DVD IN ON MONDAY! LALALALALALALAAAAAAAA! OKAAAAAAAAAY! I'LL BE GOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIING NOOOOOOOW! GOOODBYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEE!  
  
*ahem*  
  
reviews are appreciated... 


	12. cameras and cannibals

had writers block for a day but i' back on track now! enjoy!  
  
DISCLAIMER: refer to chapters before this one because o really can't be bothered!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The dreams came again, this time, she only saw flashes, bright flashes of surreal and frightening images... aking up once more in a cold sweat, Fish decided to get out of the Baltimore State Hospital... out of the hell hole... into the night.  
  
She rose from her bunk and crept into the bathroom... dressed and washed quickly... then she waited. Watching the cameras, she pulled out the key from her teeth, then she unlocked the door. When the camera turned on it's brackets to face the cell door, she stopped and ran back into the bathroom where she couldn't be seen. As soon as the caera moved to focus on Lecter's cell for a couple of minutes, Fish made a body shape in the bunk under the covers and opened the door to her cell. The camera had a blind spot... Fish ran underneath the camera and waited again, she had closed the cell door and everything looked right in the dim light of the corridor.  
  
"Doctor Lecter?" she whispered, not wanting to wake him up if he WAS asleep.  
  
"Yes, Fish?" he replied in a quiet voice.  
  
"I'm out."   
  
"What?!" he sat up, luckily the camera was facing the other cell.  
  
"I am out of my cell... and I am leaving this place." she said slowly, letting the words sink in.  
  
"Chilton won't be happy." he said flatly.  
  
"I had no idea you cared so much... do you want to come too? Or do yu want to stay here and let your brain rot?" she flashed the key and pointed to the camera, turning back. The doctor mimicked sleep and then sat up again when the camera moved again.  
  
"Alright, Fish Pants... I'll join you until i find somewhere to go."   
  
"Call me Fish Pants again and I'll rip your lungs out... okay?" she threatened him.  
  
"Understood," the doctor held up his hands but he couldn't prevent the grin spreading across his face.  
  
"You'd better understand..." she trailed off and then walked swiftly to the door of his cell, used the key and left to go to the spot under the camera again.  
  
The camera turned back around and doctor Lecter opened the door and walked over to Fish.  
  
"Thankyou."  
  
"You can keep your lungs for now..." he joked and then looked up at the camera. "On three we run to the gate... there's nobody at the orderly station," she said, sniffing the air.  
  
"Whatever you say. It seems you've got a better sense of smell than me, so I'll trust your judgement and decisions." Fish saw him tense his muscles, getting ready for a sprint...   
  
~ it's like... a jog doc... calm down... ~ she thought to herself.  
  
"One... two... three." On three, the doctor began to sprint, but Fish jogged and overtook him... the doctor looked surprised. Distracted, he didn't realise he was so close to the gate and ran into it. Fish chuckled.  
  
"I find running easier than some..." she managed to say as she opened the door in a fit of giggles.  
  
"Obviously," doctor Lecter stood and rubbed his head.  
  
"You okay?" Fish looked back at him, truly concerned.  
  
"I'll live." He said, and looked up, Fish was taking all the ammo from the guns and throwing it all through the bars of the now closed gate into the dim corridor of the insane and damned.  
  
"Good." she said, then started work on the next gate.  
  
Doctor Lecter and Fish progressed up the stairs cautiously, just incase there was anybody coming down them. Fish was sniffing and listening and the doctor just followed.  
  
At the door of the upper asylum, Fish took a deep breath and looked around, then she opened it. The smell and sound of outside took over her senses... she regained control and surveyed the area. With a silent nod of her head, the doctor followed her into the forest beyond the asylum... they were free... 


	13. the journey

DISCLAIMER: i don't own doctor lecter... and i am Fish  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
They crept silently through the forest at first, making sure that nobody was in the area. When the doctor coughed, Fish turned.  
  
"Do you mind if we take a pit stop?" he asked, hinting that he needed to relieve himself.  
  
"Sure, I'll be over here." Fish pointed to the clearing ahead and walked away, leaving the doctor to his 'privacy' in the trees and bushes.  
  
~ well, Fish pal! WE ARE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! potato balls! now to get to our destination... ~  
  
Fish sat on a rock and thought for a short while, she pricked her ears when she heard a twig snap and whirled around at an inhuman speed to find the good doctor nose to nose with her.  
  
"Hello, Fish." he said bluntly.  
  
"Good evening, doctor." she said back to him.  
  
"Shall we continue?" he suggested, completely serious.  
  
"Indeed we shall." She replied in a decidedly witty tone.  
  
The two travelled in silence until the doctor spoke up.  
  
"Fish, may I ask WHERE we are going?"  
  
"Well, we are going to a safe house, Rad is there to meet me... and you." she didn't turn around, rather she concentrated on getting across the stream without falling in.  
  
"How far away is this safehouse?" he queried innocently.  
  
"About two or three miles from now." she replied, before hearing a splash and a yell. She turned slowly, trying desperately to keep a straight face... but she was unsuccessful. The doctor had indeed fallen into the stream... Fish had to do her best to keep her balance on the rock as she laughed.  
  
"Something funny... Fish Pants?" he quirked an eyebrow... the smile on Fish's face disappeared and she pounced, he dodged, they both ended up in the stream, splashing about madly. Fish managed to trip the doctor when he stood in the stream, then she ran... in her soaked boiler-suit as fast as she could, not losing him.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
They stopped about tweny minutes later, gasping for breath.  
  
"Why... did you... call me... Fish Pants... huh?" Fish questioned.  
  
"You... need to... get more... fun out of life... did... you know that... huh?" the doctor answered.  
  
"Whatever." Fish stood straight, stretched and then sunk to her haunches and sniffed about. "We have about ten minutes to go, then we can get dry." she rose and looked around.  
  
"Is there any wardrobe for people like myself?" the doctor looked about and sniffed the air, there was a pack of wolves about half a mile away.  
  
"Yeah... we got tons of stuff, so it's likely." Fish began to walk in the direction of the safehouse.  
  
"Oh... right." the doctor walked beside her and kept silent for the rest of the journey.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
that is as far as i have got peeps! hope you enjoy the outcome so far! and to radical aisha... Rad will be back soon! 


	14. madness in the shack of doom

The safe house was quite literally... a shack... corrugated metal roofing and log walls... but it was quite large, compared to a garden shed and an asylum cell.  
  
"This is it." Fish announced as she rapped on the door.  
  
There was no reply.  
  
She knocked again.  
  
There was a blast of rock music.  
  
Fish looked through the window and saw...  
  
Rad... dancing about the living room, throwing feathers and clucking madly... with a food bowl on her head...  
  
"Oh... my... god..." she said, too shocked to do anything. Then Lecter looked through the window.  
  
"Oh... my... god..." he said, to shocked to say anything else. "I think we should break the door down and restrain her." he suggested but Fish just shook her head.  
  
"Have you heard her sing? And if we put her in a strait jacket, she'd hop around and do a jig... and then there's the knock-knock jokes..." Fish shuddered at the memory of 'Rad the COMEDIAN!'  
  
"In that case, I suggest we break the door down." He looked at Fish.  
  
"Alright then, I'm not standing out here all night." she conceded and lined herself up with the door. When she ran towards the door, it opened and Rad stood in her way... Fish ran into Rad, Rad and Fish tumbled down the stairs and ended up in a heap of claws and furry ears on the floor.  
  
"FISH PANTS!" Rad yelled, "POTATO BALLS!" she yelled, then she looked up the stairs at the doctor, "EH?!" she yelled some more.  
  
"This is doctor Lecter, you don't know him."  
  
"OH... RIGHTY THENNY!" Fish signalled for Rad to quieten down.  
  
"Hello, Rad." doctor Lecter descended down the stairs, almost floating down them.  
  
"Erm... hey hey!" she replied, looking at him with *shifty eyes* "erm... who is that?!" she asked Fish.  
  
"That is doctor Lecter." Fish repeated to her confused friend.  
  
"Edward is confused. Who's up for internet chess? I've been playing for a week!" she exclaimed suddenly, furry ears moving as she spoke.  
  
"She likes chess." Fish explained to the doctor, who was also confused.  
  
"Indeedy I doooooo!" Rad began to sing.  
  
"Calm down, Rad... we're going to dry off and change, you play some chess... okies?"  
  
"Okies!"  
  
"Good, upstairs?" The doctor asked.   
  
"To the stairs and up the stairs." Fish nodded.  
  
"See you in a minute, Rad." Fish called.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
~ doctor Lecter? ~   
  
Rad thought   
  
~ woohoo! hammer-head shark... ~   
  
Rad thought some more   
  
~mmmmmm... kitty chow... pidgeon... feathers... ~   
  
Rad began to drool.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"So, that is Rad?" The doctor made conversation from the other room as he dried his hair with a towel.  
  
"Yeppo... that IS Rad... and nobody could impersonate Rad... not even me!" Fish also was drying her hair with a towel.  
  
"Interesting kid." he said.  
  
"Indeed she is."  
  
"So, what now?"  
  
"Don't you ever stop thinking ahead?" She got a little irritated with his tendencies to think all the time.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No, my de- I mean... Fish, I do not... it is habit... much like my habit of calling you 'my dear'."   
  
"Obviously. Thanks for not losing it with her."  
  
"I can't promise anything... I am patient, but THAT is too much."  
  
"Really?!" Fish had lived with Rad all her life, she was used to it.  
  
"Yes." He admitted again. "So, what's with the feathers?"  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
"Are you sure?" lie detector ON.  
  
"No. She thinks she is a cat, so she acts like one... simple really."  
  
"What about the furry ears... and the claws." he couldn't help but ask.  
  
"I have no explainations for that... but i am working on it."  
  
"Right..."  
  
"Yeah." and now the conversation gets awkward.  
  
"I'll go back downstairs and... check on Rad for you."  
  
"Okay, just don't threaten her."  
  
"I won't."   
  
~ famous last words... ~ Fish mused.  
  
And so the doctor walks down the stairs [in black cords and a v-neck sweater] to his doom... 


	15. the argument

"WOOHOO! HAMMER-HEAD SHARK!" Rad had got out of the 'shack' and was standing on the roof, howling at the moon.   
  
"Rad... are you up there?" the doctor looked at the roof.  
  
"Yessy! Edward is here!" Rad's face appeared from the edge of the roof.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
  
"Something."  
  
"Really?" he feigned interest.  
  
"Indeedy, Edward is a cat!" Rad said proudly.  
  
"No, Rad is a human..." the doctor said.  
  
"Edward is a cat." she insisted.  
  
"Rad... human." he couldn't make it any simpler.  
  
"EDWARD... CAT!" she followed the pattern, yelling at him.  
  
"Don't make me come up there." he pointed at the roof.  
  
"EDWARD KNOWS YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she went crazy.  
  
"Rad... I warn you now-" he was cut off by Rad, still going mental and catlike.  
  
"EDWARD IS A KITTY CAT!" she leapt from the roof, landing on all fours, then running around in circles before running inside the shack. The doctor just stood there... fuming for five minutes, then Rad reappeared. She circled him, throwing feathers from a large pillow. Then she put the pillowcase on her head and ran around clucking like a chicken.  
  
"Cats do not cluck, Rad." doctor Lecter informed her as she ran around the clearing, clucking like a mad chicken now.  
  
"Rad is being a chicken now! Rad is a good impressionistical cat!" Rad stated proudly to the doctor.  
  
"Indeed you are, but you are also a human, are you not?" big mistake.  
  
"RAD IS A CAT!" Rad hopped up and down furiously.  
  
"What's going on?!" Fish came from the house just in time to see Rad chase Lecter around the clearing in the forest.   
  
"RAD... DO YUO WANT ME TO LOSE MY TEMPER?!" the good doctor yelled as he ran.  
  
"CAT! CAT! CAT! CAT! KITTY CAT!" she repeated.  
  
"I KNOW ALREADY!" he replied.  
  
"RAD! DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO CHERRYTOWN?" Rad stopped and turned to face Fish.  
  
"Heh! Fishie is forgetting Rad has key!" Fish shook her head.  
  
"Rad is forgetting Rad gave Fishie the key." Rad shrugged. Her mood suddenly changed to serious and sombre.  
  
"Oh well... that's, Fish, but I'm going to bed now... I am incredibly fatigued."  
  
"Spiffing." Fish stepped aside while Rad went to her room. Lecter, who had been hiding in the bushes from Rad, spoke to Fish.  
  
"Thankyou for stopping her." he said.  
  
"That's okay... she's just glad to be out."  
  
"That's understandable."  
  
"Good for you..." Fish paused and thought for a second... her mind was spinning... "I'm going on a walk, you wanna come? I need to think."  
  
"I too need to think... where to?"  
  
"The biggest tree in the forest. I hear climbing trees is good for thinking." Fish thought back to what Dr Morrick had said to her at Cherrytown, he was okay for a shrink.  
  
"I've heard it said, but have never tried it myself."  
  
So our two fugitives go to the trees to think... we shan't follow, not tonight... they need to think in the silence of the night... we would be a hindrance to that...  
  
All good things to those who wait...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
How's it so far? I need to think, so I don't actually know what's going to hapen next... But... I'll keep it going... I have Rad! 


	16. returning and retiring in the evening

When doctor Lecter and Fish returned to the safehouse, the lights were off.  
  
"Good, she's asleep." Fish said as she surveyed the house and their surroundings, making sure nobody knew they were there.  
  
"That is a relief." The doctor agreed, nodding slightly.  
  
"Mmmmm... I think it would be wise to retire for the night." Fish suggested.  
  
"Yes, goodnight, Miss Fish."  
  
"Puh-lease!" she rolled her eyes at the doctor.  
  
"Fine... Fish Pants..." he looked at her as she gave him her *cold glare* and it was getting to him.  
  
"If I had access to a paper cup I'd kill you with it... but regretably i only have a ceiling fan, and Rad would miss it too much if I took it down... consider yourself lucky."  
  
"Oh, I do... beilieve me."  
  
"You've never lied so far... do I have a choice?"  
  
"Hmmmmmm... that is rather slippery of you Fish Pants." He heard a low growl of aggitation come from Fish and decided it wuld be a good idea to run down the stairs and lock himself in his room.  
  
"I'LL KILL YOU!" she yelled as she shot after him at lightning speed, grabbing him around the neck, ending up on his back as he ran. They stayed like that, Fish getting a ride on the cannibal's back... an odd sight, considering both were 'mental' or so some thought.  
  
"Fish's room, all passengers to vacate the vehicle, thankyou." The doctor mimicked a train driver. Fish laughed, squeezed his neck in a playful warning and went into her room. He strolled down the hall and went into his own room. The underground of the shack covered a lot of space underground, it was like a house underground... very odd.  
  
The doctor lay on his back in bed, thinking to himself.   
  
~ well, Hannibal! You are out... what do you do now? ~   
  
Strangely, he found the voice of Fish in his head...   
  
~ thinking ahead again, doctor? ~ he shook his head, turned over and went to sleep. After all, tomorrow is a different day...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Fish also laid awake in her bed, thinking to herself.  
  
~ Friend or foe? ~  
  
Strangely, she heard the voice of the good doctor in her head...  
  
~ Tsk, tsk, tsk, Fish Pants, you were doing so well... ~ she shook her hea, turned over and went to sleep. After all, tomorrow is a different day... 


	17. nocternal

Fish looked at the clock, it was 12:00am. The scent of the night outside refreshed her drowsy senses. She made her way upstairs from her room, outside. The night sky outside was deep blue, dotted randomly with tiny stars far off in space.   
  
"Give me all your dreams and I'll turn them into moonbeams. Look up to the sky, face the storm, look up into it's eye. I'll make you a moonbeam when you make your dream." she said. Fish had no idea where the words came from, she had never read them before and she definately never heard them spoken like that before. Fish had been expecting the shufle on the roof. Rad leapt from the roof of the safe-house and joined Fish in the shadows.  
  
"What is Fishpants up to nowwy?" Rad questioned.  
  
"Fish is up to no good."  
  
"Oooh! Goody Goody!" Rad clapped in joy, her pointy teeth glintint in the moonlight. She moved away, into the shadows of the night, humming a haunting melody that carried with the wind all around the forest, surrounding Fish, invading her head.  
  
Fish closed her eyes, welcoming the cool breeze against her skin, ruffling her short hair slightly. It would be light soon, she had time for climbing a tree and a long walk before the Good Doctor awoke. He was dead beat when they decided to go their separate ways for the evening.  
  
Fish disappeared into the darkness of the forest, searching for a tree worthy of climbing. Tomorrow they had a long journey ahead of them and she would have to make sure she wasn't going to go all hyperactive for it. Fish had a reputation and swinging on shower curtains and throwing herself from non-existent windows wouldn't do much good for it.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Rad looked at the tree. She gave a low growl and lunged, scrambling frantically to reach the top. Halfway up the tree, she felt herself slipping, Rad clawed at the tree madly until, she fell and hit he floor with a rather audible 'oof'.  
  
"Grrrr!" Rad growled, "Ed will conquer tree thing!" she vowed as she slunk away, heading back to the safe-house.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The first rays of golden sunlight showed themselves over the tree tops. From the top of the highest tree in the forest Fish slumbered in, one would have seen the beautiful sunrise light up the sky, but would have undoubtedly awoken the sleeping Fish.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Doctor Lecter rolled over and out of bed, landing with an 'oof' on the floor. He stayed still on the floor, on his stomach, recalling the recent events, then wondering why he was on the floor.  
  
~ Ahh, yes... no wall... too bad... ~ he reminded himself. Had the Good Doctor rolled over like that in the asylum, he would have met the wall of his cell and remained asleep. His thoughts wandered briefly to Clarice Starling for a moment.  
  
~ I wonder if she's caught little Blly yet ~ he chuckled. It was rather obvious that was what Jack Crawford sent her there for. a movement to his left, under the bed, tore him from his thoughts. He looked to his left and saw...  
  
"Hewwo!" Rad grinned at Doctor Lecter from under the bed. Glancing at the amount of Kitty-Chow tins and the blanket and over stuffed (with feathers!) pillow she had, he guessed she'd slept there for... however long she'd been there.  
  
"Hello, Rad." Doctor Lecter said, still on his stomach. It was a good thing, he decided, that the floor was carpeted.  
  
"What is man-dude-guy-thing doing on floor making 'oof' noises like Edward for?" Rad questioned the Doctor.  
  
"I fell out of bed." he explained, causing Rad to crack up where she was.  
  
"Edward thinks man-dude-guy-thing is weird!" she stated with a grin, turned over and went straight back to sleep... just like that! Soon enough, Rad was snoring and holding entire conversations with herself.  
  
Doctor Lecter wasn't one to complain usually, having an incredible amount of patience, but Rad tried that patience and he couldn't take it anymore. Not even the Good Doctor's memory palace could drown out the noise Rad made.  
  
Lecter decided to find Fish and see if she could do anything about Rad. Perhaps there was another room he could spend the remainder of the night... or was it morning?  
  
The Doctor found Fish's room and knocked on the door. After waiting for a couple of minutes, he knocked again. Fish would have woken up by now, the doctor was sure. He knew from the asylum that she was not a deep sleeper. Doctor Lecter tried the door, it was unlocked.   
  
~ Odd... ~ he thought, ~ Fish locked the door when she retired... ~ he ignored his thoughts and looked around the room, it was dark, but he could tell Fish was not in the room. He looked about the room again and left. Lecter then proceeded to check the entire safe-house. No sign of Fish. He wondered if she had left him here, with 'Rad the insane', to rot. He doubted it though. Deciding on sleep, Lecter went back to Fish's room and got into the bed. It didn't look lik she was coming back for the rest of the morning... or so the clock told him.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Fish awoke with a start and fell out of the tree, she grabbed a branch as she fell and clung to it. Once she had gotten her bearings back, she dropped from the tree and stretched. Feeling much more refreshed, she decided to go back to the safe-house.  
  
When she arrived at the safe-house, everything was quiet.  
  
~ Oh, good, Rad's not awake yet. ~ she thought with a smile.  
  
The grass in the clearing was a green that Fish had never seen before. The sunlight lit everything up, making it all seem so much more alive. In the darkness, her surroundings always seemed so dull.  
  
Fish went down the stairs silently. She walked along the hall to the door of her room, she opened the door, she flicked on the light, she saw...  
  
"What the HELL are you doing in here?!?!?!" she jumped. She wasn't mad at him, just surprised he was there.  
  
"GAGH!" he yelped and fell out of bed with an 'oof'. Fish walked out of the room and closed the door. Then she heard it...  
  
"OOPS I DID IT AGAIN! I PLAYED WITH YOUR HEART! GOT LOST IN THE GAME! OH BABY, BABY! OOPS YOU THINK I'M IN LOVE THAT I'M SENT FROM ABOVE! I'M NOT THAT INNOCENT!" Fish went into the Doctor's room and looked under the bed, there, asleep, holding an invisible microphone, was Rad, singing her heart out. Fish sighed, shook her head and exited the room. She went back to her room and looked at the Doctor.   
  
"Umm... go back to sleep." she said and left for upstairs, she could watch some TV and possibly catch another few hours sleep before all hell broke loose with Rad again. As it usually did. 


	18. more breakfasting

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr Hannibal 'the cannibal' Lecter... I DO however, own Fish because Fish is I! and I am assuming that Rad belongs to the men in white coats...  
  
oh... and I don't own Good Charlotte either...  
  
enjoy and please, review...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was four o'clock in the AM. Doctor Hanibal Lecter woke to a scratching noise coming from the roof. Then there was a THUD. He sat and then stood, then made his way up the stairs. Looking around, he saw nothing... Sniffing around, he could smell nothing... Listening, he heard only a small noise... the clock, ticking the time away. Outside was the next place to check.  
  
~ Why am I doing this? It's probably just a fox... or a cat... ~ he thought to himself as he stood in the moonlit clearing. Doctor Lecter then went up to the roof, but found nothing. As the good doctor made his way down the wall of the safehouse, a blast of rock music sounded, disturbing the clearing's tranquil scene. Running into the shack, the doctor almost fell down the stairs.   
  
Now, he didn't laugh and I won't laugh if you don't...  
  
Rad the cat or chicken thing (still a mystery) was dancing around the kitchen with tins and marmite and plates, juggling them all at a dangerous height. She sang along to the music as she juggled and jigged, not noticing the doctor at the door.  
  
"Good morning, Rad." he said to her in a menacing tone, which somehow managed to carry across all the noise.  
  
"Gagh! Scary eyed man thing!" she exclaimed and leapt on to the ceiling fan above the stove, which was on, thus toasting her bare feet. "Gagh! Edward is too HOT! Hot feets!" she exclaimed again and dropped from the fan to the floor. Rad hopped to her feet and began to regard doctor Lecter with caution.  
  
"What's that you're listening to, Rad?" he inquired.  
  
"GOOD CHARLOTTE!" Rad gave a little cheesy grin. Another song began and Rad began to sing again.  
  
"Oh, my love, please don't cry, I'll wash my bloody hands and we'll start a new life..."  
  
After another loud blast, the doctor left, leaving Rad to jig around on the breakfast table, jumping and hopping about madly.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
At eight o'clock in the AM, Fish rose and showered. She walked upstairs to check outside, then came back down stairs again. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw the doctor and Rad battling each other with wooden spoons and assorted kitchen utensils. Both were aiming to stuff their opponent into the food processor.  
  
~ It appears that doctor Lecter has finally met his true nemesis... Rad, the chicken impersonator! ~ Fish thought as she stared on in wonder and amusement at the warring pair.  
  
Rad suddenly leapt from the kitchen counter and was just about to throw a sieve at the good doctor when she saw Fish. Rad suddenly lost the will to fight and began to put the breakfast out.  
  
Doctor Lecter and Fish sat at the table and Rad put all three bowls on the table.  
  
"Break the fast with BREAKFAST!" she exclaimed with another grin. "Chow down!" she said and began to eat really, really, really fast.   
  
The doctor looked at Rad, and then at the food before him... he took a spoonful and tried it... surprisingly, Rad was good at something... other than being a chicken.  
  
Fish had never tried Rad's food stuff before and as she watched the doctor and Rad both muching away happily, she took a bite...   
  
"Hey! Rad! This is pretty good!" Fish exclaimed.  
  
"Indeed, it is. May I ask WHAT is in it?"   
  
"Yessy... it's kitty chow." Rad said, not really all that bothered by that answer.  
  
"WHAT?!" Fish half choked on her food.  
  
"Told you... kitty chow..." Rad munched, "and marmite!" Rad continued to hum insanely to herself and eat with a grin on her face.  
  
"Rrrrrrrrrrrighty then." Fish and the doctor exchanged confused glances.  
  
When he heard the word- m a r m i t e, doctor Lecter had gone a noticeable shade of green. What Rad said next didn't help much either.  
  
"They're a hundred percent vegetarian too!"  
  
Fish moved first, the doctor followed. They ran outside and tried to keep what they understand to be kitty chow in their stomachs.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
At the table, Rad looked around with *shifty eyes* and slid over to Fish's bowl, finishing all the kitty how and marmite... she left the doctor's bowl alone.  
  
~ creepy eyes, creepy man... CREEEEEEEPY! Rad IS a cat! Creepy man don't know anything! Rad CAN be a chicken if Rad wants to be and Rad knows all about SEXY HATS! WOOHOO! ~  
  
Rad smiled slyly and turned on the CD again, Good Charlotte came back on the speakers... THE ANTHEM was playing:  
  
"Do you really wanna be like them, do you really wanna be another trend, do you wanna be part of the crowd, 'cos I don't ever wanna, I don't ever wanna be you... don't wanna be JUST like you..."  
  
Rad danced around and sang for the remainder of the song and then decided to go up on the roof and relax in the sun, where a cat should be.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
At ten o'clock in the PM, Rad was awake on the roof, she turned around to see Fish scrambling up to the roof.  
  
"Hey hey!" she greeted Fish.  
  
"What's up, Rad?"  
  
"Nothing much, just thinking."  
  
"I saw you playing internet chess again." Fish made conversation.  
  
"Edward not playing again... still."  
  
"Who're you playing?"  
  
"Dunno." Rad shrugged her shoulders and looked at he moon, it was a full moon too.  
  
"Yes you do."  
  
"So do you." Rad retaliated sharply.  
  
"True..." Fish settled back on the roof.  
  
"I'm winning." Rad said proudly.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Yeah." Rad nodded, Fish usually did know, she wasn't being nosy, just remembering things for Rad... in case she forgot stuff.  
  
"I got contacted by Prawn." Fish said, sighing.  
  
"Yeah?!" Rad raised a *quizzical* eyebrow.  
  
"Yeppo. She's doing the doctor a favour for me." Fish told Rad.  
  
"What's the favour?"   
  
"Fake IDs, collagen supplies... passports... so he can get out of the country."  
  
"Where you meeting?" inquired Rad.  
  
"About a day's walk to the... South. We leave tomorrow morning."  
  
"Okies." Rad shrugged again, then gave a huge yawn -like that of a tiger- and continued to chat away to her friend, "erm... where's this doctor?" Rad asked, the curiosity evident on her face.  
  
"On a walk." Fish said as she stood on the roof, admired the view of the trees, stretched, gave a growl and leapt from the roof, disappearing into the night to find a good tree to climb. Tomorrow, the journey would begin... 


	19. setting off

DISCLAIMER: don't own him, never will... yadda... yadda... yadda!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
~ rrrrrrighty then... food for the day, water, snacks... take out kitty-chow... hooded sweater... another pair of vans... medi-kit thingy... all checked... aha! CASH! $200 should be enough... ~  
  
Fish was going through all her stuff...  
  
"Friutcake, trifle, baked beans and pie!" she sang and smiled to herself.  
  
"Ready yet?" doctor Lecter's voice sounded from the hall.  
  
"Nearly." Fish replied.  
  
"I'll be outside, okay?"   
  
"Sure." Fish continued to hum as she zipped the rucksack closed and swung it on to her back. Checking her watch, it was five twenty-five in the morning.   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Rad was sitting on the sofa... thinking about the dreams she'd had last night.  
  
Instead of kitty-chow and pigeons and feathers, she saw huge tubes and men in white coats walking everywhere. Then she came face to face with herself... inside the tube... the weird thing was, next to that tube, she could see Fish, face to face with another Fish in the tube...  
  
Just before she turned to walk away from the tube in her dream, the dormant Rad in the tube awakened, eyes snapping open and glowing green, reflecting light... like a cat. The tube smashed and the men around her ran to stop her, but she broke the other tube and Fish stared on as the Fish from the tube began to move and stood up, eyes also reflecting light.  
  
What Rad did not know was that Fish had that exact same dream that night too... it was like an extension to the dreams Fish had in the Baltimore asylum.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Fish remembered her dream clearly now... Rad was there and she remembered the OTHER thing.  
  
Fish and Rad were laboratory experiments which, due to a fault, awakened before they were supposed to. Before they were detained and sent to the Cherrytown asylum, Fish had gone insane. Rad was the first to be caught but Fiah didn't know who Rad was at the time.  
  
Fish slipped into the memory as though it was only yesterday...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"FISH... yeah... ID 17 uh huh! she's out and we can't get to her... she's on the fan."   
  
~ Fish? Is that my name? Is that WHO i am? ~   
  
"come on, Fishie... come on down from there... we ain't gonna hurt you..." one of the scientists said, but Fish saw the tranquiliser gun behind him, loaded with a lethal dose.  
  
"NO!" she had yelled. Before the scientist could move, she had leapt from the fan and tore his eyes out, took the gun and snapped it in two halves. Three other scientists had met a similar fate to the-one-with-the-gun, each missing an eye, ear or had half of their face burnt off when Fish found the flamethrower...  
  
~ I will not be treated like THIS! ~ she remembered thinking before the scientists managed to sedate her and get her into a holding cell, allowing her to calm down when she awoke.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Up until now, Fish had always been in captivity, going from asylum to asylum, but now... now she was free, and would remain that way...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Rad was comfort eating... seven tins of kitty-chow had already been downed and she was halfway through her eighth.  
  
~ not fair... Rad isn't nuts... Rad is a chicken... and a cat... but Rad is a lot of things... Rad is unique! ~   
  
Rad was finding a sense of calmness in the kitty-chow... she heard Fish come through the door.  
  
"Well, we're off now, I'll be back in three days maximum..."   
  
"Promise?" Rad looked at her pal with trusting eyes.  
  
"I swear it." Fish said, hand on her heart. Rad giggled insanely and then put the can of food on the table.   
  
"Have fun and bring me back Prawn's new fic! I need to read something!"  
  
"Okies, I will... I promise!"  
  
"Buh buh byes!" Rad comically waved at her friend.  
  
"Yeah, you too... erm... keep being a cat and work on your chicken pose... you nearly got it nailed!"  
  
"Okies, i will!" And with that, Fish was gone... now Rad could have some fuuuuuun!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"All okay?" Doctor Lecter asked as Fiah came through the door at the front of the safe-house.  
  
"Yeppo. All is well... you?"  
  
"Yeppo." He mimicked.  
  
"Fortunately for me, I have packed a paper cup... do NOT forget my earlier threat! I WILL kill you if you do ANYTHING to bother me at the moment."  
  
"In which case I will keep quiet for my own sake then."  
  
"Good, let's move."  
  
"You read my mind." doctor Lecter feigned shock and surprise.  
  
"Shhhh... tell no one!" Fish joked, making the good doctor chuckle briefly.  
  
"You have my word."  
  
"Anyways, i think it's best to move out now... i have a bad feeling about all this."  
  
"But it's just a feeling... right?"  
  
"Yeah... sure... just a feeling..." she took a deep breath, "let's go."  
  
"Lead the way."  
  
We shall follow the two fugitives through the dense forest, careful not to make a sound... for only the sound of crazy typing as Rad plays internet chess can be heard now.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
How is it so far? I have a feeling this is going to take a while... but I DO have a sequel already lined up... yet no ending for this one... and as Radical Aisha would probably say: "You like? It's kitty-chow! AND Edward knows youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"   
  
Reviews are appreciated as always. Thanks to those who have done so far and to those who are going to. 


	20. searching for Prawn

It was eleven o'clock at night.   
  
Fish and doctor Lecter were walking the streets of Washington. Their journey had been a good one. They had been walking for six hours in the forest at Baltimore, stopping once for lunch. Fish suggested public transport to get to Washington, so the doctor agreed and they got to DC in record timing.  
  
Fish and the doctor had been wandering the streets in silence, heading for the meeting point where Prawn would be waiting. It was twelve-thirty-two when they finally got to the meeting place. The two travellers were disappointed to find that Prawn was not there.  
  
Fish inhaled deeply.  
  
"She's been here." She stated, exhaling.  
  
"Mmmmm..." the doctor also inhaled, but got a nose full of exhaust fumes from a passing van. He coughed for a couple of minutes until his airways were clear once again. Bending over to get his breath back, the doctor noticed a white piece of paper, lying on the floor, looking all too deliberately placed. "What's this?" he stooped and picked up the paper, unfolding it, he realised it was a note. Written in a fine hand, it read:  
  
###  
  
FISH, OLD BEAN!  
  
HOPE YOU AND YOUR TRAVELLING COMPANION ARE ALL OKEY-DOKEY... MUS HAVE BEEN ONE HECK OF A JOURNEY! NICE TO HEAR YOU'RE OUT, ALIVE AND IF I OFFEND YOU... KICKING.  
  
ANYHOW, I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN FEELING A BIT BORED... SO TO SPEAK... SO, CAN YOU FIND ME?  
  
I'LL GIVE YOU A CLUE... I WON'T BLEND LIKE COFFEE... THINK SNAKES...   
  
THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING... OR WRITING TO BE MORE SPECIFIC.  
  
GOOD LUCK...  
  
P.  
  
###  
  
"'I won't blend in'?" Fish repeated aloud.  
  
"Fond of mind games, is she?" The doctor asked.  
  
"Yeppo and ... no." Fish sank to her haunches and thought. "This city is too big, I doubt we'll be able to track her by scent... but snakes? Hair perhaps... yes... her hair..." Fish trailed off in thought.  
  
"Go on." the doctor prompted her.  
  
"Prawn was the first to escape from Cherrytown. Last time I spoke with her, she was saying something about her hair."  
  
"A different cut perhaps?" doctor Lecter suggested, but Fish wasn't listening.  
  
"To go unnoticed you must want to be noticed." She said in a distant and faraway voice.  
  
"Coloured or bleached perhaps?" doctor Lecter suggested some more.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Yes, you do... just think... listen to my voice."  
  
"Do NOT hypnotise me!" Fish warned, "I have a paper cup! Remember?!"  
  
"For some reason I can't quite work out, I really don't feel at all threatened."  
  
Then, unexpectedly, Fish pulled from her pocket a knife... on closer inspection, it is a Spyderco Civillian.  
  
"Do NOT mess with me, doctor Lecter." she warned him again, fire in her eyes.  
  
~ whoa! back up, man! ~ the doctor stopped himself saying any more and retreated.  
  
"What I was saying before was what Prawn had told me... to be unnoticed you must WANT to be noticed... she'll be so easy to spot, we'll just pass her off as another person... and her hair... it might be radical... an outrageous colour... she's a rebel you see."  
  
"Ahhhhhh... right." the doctor walked out of the alleyway, Fish followed.  
  
"I suggest the back roads." Fish muttered to him as they passed a crowd.  
  
"Lead on." the doctor said back, a tone of excitement in his voice... he hadn't done this in a long time.  
  
They walked around for about thirty minutes when the doctor suddenly blurted something.  
  
"What?" Fish said to him, eyes searching the streets.  
  
"Agent Starling."  
  
"What about her?"   
  
"Clarice lives in Washington."  
  
"Whoa! Back up here!" Fish stopped walking, "NO girlfriend calls okay! No matter who it is!" Fish let go of his arm and continued to walk at a brisk pace.  
  
"Who said I had feelings for her?" th doctor questioned, jogging alongside her, she was walking rather quickly.  
  
"You do."  
  
"..." the doctor had no reply to that statement, Fish just smiled to herself.  
  
As they passed a street, there was a shape on the sidewalk, it moved. A shadow... it wasn't normal though... Fish turned quickly and ran at lightning speed at the shadow which was following them.   
  
She pounced...  
  
There was an oof, a thud, an outraged yell and an exclamation of joy...  
  
"PRAWN!" 


	21. Peking Prawn!

"FISH!" Prawn yelled as she got to her feet, clapping Fish on the back.  
  
"Prawn! Wow! How long's it been?"  
  
"Erm... a... really long time?" Prawn said, causing Fish to laugh.  
  
"Indeed it has, my friend."  
  
"And this must be the famous DOCTOR Lecter... if I was wearing my hat it would be off to you sir. You are respected among those such as myself." Lecter nodded his thanks. "Come... follow me." Prawn walkd back down the street she had come from and disappeared into the thick fog that had set in. Fish and the good doctor pursued her as fast as they could.  
  
On the other side of the mist, Prawn could not be found.  
  
"You couldn't speed yourselves up a bit, could you?" Prawn's voice sounded through the deserted alleyway, "it's all sooooo terribly boooooring waiting for you constantly!" her voice echoed all around the alleyway... they had reached a dead-end... she was there... somewhere.  
  
"C'mon, Prawn! Just give us the stuff and we'll go!" Fish said to the voice, not knowing where to face when she spoke.  
  
"No!" came a firm answer, "I told you to find me... instead I had to find you... now... can you find me?"  
  
Prawn watched Fish circle the alleyway, checking the ground suspiciously. She was perched on a lamp-post, high into the mist.  
  
"FINE!" Fish roared, "Do we have a set time?"   
  
"The time? Hmmmm..." Prawn considered for a moment, "Ten minutes... do you forfeit?"  
  
"No... you?" Fish began to search behind the trash cans, in them and around them, she was unsuccessful in her efforts. The doctor gave a polite cough to draw Fish's attention to him, he moved his eyes to the lamp-post and nodded.  
  
"I believe that the one you seek can be located 'up there', dear Fish." doctor Lecter muttered to her still form, he stared at the other side of the alleyway, seeming to be in another dimension.  
  
"Prawn, you know what happens when you fall off lamp-posts? No? You die." Fish said with a sigh.  
  
~ to be unnoticed you must WANT to be noticed... ~ Fish reminded herself.  
  
"You know, you've always seemed to be the sane one... although you're really the worst of us." Prawn commented before leaping from the high lamp-post, landing without a sound. She stood in her own time.  
  
"Is this something I should know?" the doctor asked curiously.  
  
"Whatever and I'll tell you later... let's just go."  
  
"Where to may I ask?" doctor Lecter quirked an eyebrow as he asked the question.  
  
"Yes, you may, and we are going to... my secret lair!" Prawn said, with a dramatic pause for extra effect.  
  
~ Cue maniacal laughter and flashing lights and... and... and... ~ Fish smiled to herself.  
  
"Something funny, Fisher?" Prawn said to FIsh, bringing her back to the real world.  
  
"No." Fish said, hurriedly.  
  
"Well, follow me to... my secret lair!" Prawn said again.  
  
"Oh my god! The suspense of the situation is killing me!" Fish remarked sarcastically.  
  
"You don't look dead... but I could help you out in that department, just ask..." Prawn said. She walked backwards and faced thewall of the alley, she removed a brick. Behind the brick was a switch, Prawn flipped it. A section of wall disappeared into a dimly lit passageway.  
  
"Here we go again." sighed Fish.  
  
"Where to?" the good doctor had not one clue.  
  
"MY SECRET LAIR!" Prawn almost yelled at him, she had said it how many times now? "Come, follow me..." Prawn kept the doctor entertained with talk about the architecture of the passage and the lair.  
  
"She's always wanted a lair." Fish whispered to the doctor, "her hearing's not as advanced as ours, but she can see and track like a hawk... or a fox." Fish paused for a second, "Oh, and always be on your guard, she likes to set traps."  
  
"Riiiiiiiiiiight!" The doctor was suddenly upside-down with a thick rope around his ankle. Prawn chuckled.  
  
"Get's 'em everytime..." she said to herself. "You should be more CAREFUL!" Prawn warned as she walked on. 


	22. explaining the past

Chapter 21 up for you peeps to read! nearly done now... thanks to those who've reviewed and as for the disclaimer... psch! i don't need that! i am Thomas Harris in disguise!  
  
i could attempt to sue myself!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mr Harris or any of the products of HIS imagination... i do own myself [Fish] and am assuming that both Rad and Prawn belong to themselves... enjoy the show!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The lair was a surprise, well decorated, lushly furnished, works of art on the walls lining the corridor. Doctor Lecter noted Prawn's good taste in art and decor... he continued to walk alongside Fish.  
  
~ So, you are following a couple of teens along passageways to a SECRET LAIR! How out of character of you... ~ the doctor thought to himself as he walked.  
  
~ The cannibal, the loony and... the WONDERFUL PEKING PRAWN!!! ~ Prawn was also thinking.  
  
Fish wasn't thinking too much though, she was more worried than anything else.  
  
~ What am I gonna say? tick tock tick tock... SHUT UP FISH! Thankyou Peking Prawn! BUT! I know you got some secrets of your own... hmmm... is this a chance for payback? ~  
  
Fish stopped an evil grin from spreading across her face. Prawn had mastered blackmail... but so had Fish.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
After a coffee, Fish and the doctor and Prawn went into another room with a sofa and an armchair. Prawn signalled to the sofa and sat herself on the armchair. Fish and the doctor sat on opposite sides of the sofa.  
  
"So, you've come for the collagen and the passports, yes?"  
  
"Only one passport." Fish corrected Prawn.  
  
"Huh? One? I thought you wanted two?!" Prawn was confused.  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, so you're not like... travelling buddies? You could pass for father and daughter." Prawn said.   
  
Fish wondered if Prawn had actually noticed the drop in temperature due to the combined cold fury radiating from the pair on the couch.  
  
"You are mistaken." the doctor managed to say through tightly clenched teeth.  
  
"Obviously." Prawn observed, "Even if you thought you were you can't be... unless... oh! Eeeew! NO! That is just SICK!" Prawn pushed whatever she was thinking from her mind.  
  
"Ooookay, please calm down." Fish told Prawn.  
  
"Yeah... okay... I'm calm."  
  
"Good." Fish replied to Prawn. Then came an awkward silence.  
  
"SO, allow me to re-cap on the situation... you have... two passports... and?" the doctor felt he had to 'break the silence', so to speak.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, and the collagen, only for you though." Prawn informed the doctor.  
  
"And that's it, we can go now." Fish said.  
  
"Not exactly..." Prawn began, "You owe me some information."  
  
"Huh?! Whathe heck are you on about?!" Fish raised her voice slightly.  
  
"Take yourself back to the night before I got out," Prawn and Fish locked eyes and began a mental duel, "I asked you what the point in living is when we are WHAT we are... you never answered me." In Fish's eyes, Prawn saw fury, trust and embarassment.  
  
"May I inquire WHAT you are?" doctor Lecter spoke up, Fish and Prawn never broke eye contact as they answered him.  
  
"Fish?" Prawn nodded to Fish. Fish took a deep breath and began her tale.  
  
"The reason I have no relations is because I'm not... human. I started as a lab experiment... as did Rad. We nearly escaped in 'the beginning' and I... killed a few scientists." Fish stopped, "Prawn?" Prawn nodded and took over the tale.  
  
"I was the first experiment, one year before the incident that Rad and Fish were involved in. Cross DNA genetic sampling and experimenting, they were trying to create a hybrid, capable of all sorts of destruction... Fish is half human, half cheetah. Rad is half human half domestic cat, and I am half fox, half human. We were the lucky ones, the successful results... if it went wrong, the mutations were just... it'd make you want to puke." Prawn trailed off.  
  
"We got out of the institutions, all of us now. They're not going to look for us because they think we are incapable of survival. Prawn's been 'dead' for two years now... or so they think..." Fish finished.  
  
"Only TECHNICALLY dead... I am very much alive, thankyou very much!" Prawn added.  
  
"Is that the explaination for Rad's thoughts of being a cat?" Lecter quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"No... she doesn't understand... she knows... but it hasn't sunk in yet... she's been created with a... block in the mental departmen... get what I mean?" Prawn said, answering the question.  
  
"Ah... I see."  
  
Fish, who had been silently contemplating her 'life' looked over to Prawn. Prawn realised that Fish was not comfortable talking about this and hurriedly changed the subject.  
  
"WELL! I'd better be getting those passports.. Oh... and the collagen!" she disappeared for a second and returned with a couple of wallets, "Expensive leather... valuable!" she stated.  
  
"Thankyou, Miss Prawn."   
  
"All down to Rad and her chess." Prawn shifted the praise, she didn't like to be noticed.  
  
"Thankies, Prawn pal!" Fish said as she rose from the sofa and stretched, "come on, you got a flight... remember?! Now, let's move it!"  
  
"Good point, Fishie!" he said to her, welcoming the scowl he recieved. "Thankyou once more, Prawn... please, take this as a token of my gratitude." Then, doctor Lecter pulled a $50 bill from his pocket and gave it to Prawn.  
  
"Woohoo! Thanks, doctor Lecter, sir!" She said and disappeared to find her cash box.  
  
"Ciao!"  
  
"See ya round, Prawn!"  
  
"Ja! Anytime!" Came Prawn's muffled voice.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Outside, the doctor and Fish took a taxi to the airport. 


	23. goodbye forever?

"All passengers for flight number 245-71X, please make your way to gate 7, boarding now, thankyou!" The airport was busy and crowded and noisy for both Lecter and Fish's senses.  
  
"Well... it was nice knowing you." Fish said. The good doctor had twenty minutes.  
  
"Indeed." was all he said.  
  
"C'mere!" Fish gave him a big bearhug and took off the band around her wrist. "If you ever wanna contact me, that is the key. I will say no more." she said, putting the band around his wrist.  
  
"I promise I will contact you, thankyou Fish, for all you have done."  
  
"You never lie..."  
  
"Nor do I intend to." he looked at her.  
  
"Just twisting the truth perhaps!"  
  
"Your words are wise." a smile.  
  
"Go on, you'll miss your flight."  
  
"Yes, goodbye Fish Pants! say 'Ciao!' to Rad for me, yes?!"  
  
Those were his last words before he disappeared into the crowd of passing tourists, who just so happened to be going to gate 7.  
  
They would meet again, Fish knew it...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
and that's a wrap! tell me truly, little readers... what do you think?! 


End file.
